Former Real Madrid captain Iker Casillas took to social media to announce that he is gay in what would have been a big boost to the LGBTQ+ community. But following this, reports have emerged that the World Cup-winning goalkeeper posted this tweet in order to fight rumours that the 41-year-old is in a relationship with a woman.
The original tweet stated that "I hope you respect me: I'm gay," with his separation from Spanish sports journalist Sara Carbonero in 2021 adding fuel to these reports. The two were married for five years and have two children together as well. After making the apparent revelation on Twitter, the 41-year-old received a lot of support from his fans including former teammate and Barcelona legend Carlos Puyol, who replied saying, "It's time to tell our stories, Iker."
However, over an hour later, he deleted the post.
Casillas has had an illustrious career during which he won the La Liga trophy five times and the Champions League thrice. He was also a legend with the Spanish team, winning three consecutive international trophies — the 2008 and 2012 European Championships and the 2010 FIFA World Cup in between. He spent the major part of his career at Real Madrid, which he had joined at the age of nine and later went on to win 19 titles with the club while also captaining the side.
The legendary goalkeeper called it quits on his career in 2020 after he suffered a cardiac arrest while training with his last club, Porto.
Overall, he made 167 appearances for Spain, the second most for La Roja, and 725 times for Real Madrid during his career. For his final club, Porto, he played 116 matches.
Last month, he rubbished rumours that he was dating Gerard Pique’s former partner Shakira. He shared images of news articles on Instagram and said: “Touch your nose. OMG [Oh My God].”
Casillas is expected to make a statement at some point, in which he will attempt to explain his actions.
Openly gay Australian football, Josh Cavallo hit out at the Spanish legends, as he tweeted: '@IkerCasillas and @Carles5Puyol joking and making fun out of coming out in football is disappointing.
'It’s a difficult journey that any LGBTQ+ ppl have to go through. To see my role models and legends of the game make fun out of coming out and my community is beyond disrespectful.'
